Linea is a type 2 zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM). zkEVM is capable of replicating the Ethereum environment as a rollup and allows developers to build on it just like on Ethereum mainnet. For users, this enables the experience and security of Ethereum, but with low transaction costs.
How Does It Work
zkEVM is part of the Zk-Rollups technology. To better understand zkEVM, let’s first understand how ZK-Rollups work.
Zk-Rollups is a technology that increases throughput on Ethereum by moving computation and state-storage off-chain. ZK-rollups can process thousands of transactions in a batch and then only post some minimal summary data to Mainnet. This summary data defines the changes that should be made to the Ethereum state and some cryptographic proof that those changes are correct.
However, Zk-Rollups also has some drawbacks. Zk-rollups lack the ability to execute smart contracts and are limited to simple payments and token swaps. Ethereum, the largest blockchain now, is not designed to be optimized with Zk-Rollups. So, zkEVM was developed to solve the limitations of Zk-Rollups, thereby making it easier for dApps running on Layer 1 Ethereum to launch on Layer 2 solutions.
Highlights
Backed by ConsenSys
ConsenSys is one of the leading companies in the crypto space with many different products, the most prominent of which is the MetaMask wallet – one of the extremely popular crypto wallet apps now. With an experienced team and strong financial resources of ConsenSys, Linear will be fully qualified to compete with other zkEVM solutions.
Zero switching costs
With ConsenSys zkEVM, users get unrivaled scalability using the apps, tooling, and infrastructure you love, with full EVM equivalence. Developers can build on our zkEVM and migrate existing Dapps with no code changes or smart contract rewrites.
Linea is highly composable because it is designed to work seamlessly with all other EVM-based Dapps and allows for quick communication between them. In addition, Linea uses ETH for gas and has no reliance on third-party transpilers or custom middleware.
Easy onboarding
With ConsenSys zkEVM, you get native integrations with industry-leading tools such as Infura, MetaMask, and Truffle.
- MetaMask: integrated with dApps developed on Linea.
- Infura: With Infura’s easy-to-use API, users can ship Dapps faster and scale with the confidence of 99.9% uptime.
- Truffle: a tool that allows developers to build, test, debug, and deploy smart contracts on zkEVM.
- Besu: Optimized execution for zkEVM transactions by using Ethereum battle-tested components.
Token and Roadmap
Linea has yet to announce its token issuance plan.
In March 2023, the project changed its name from ConsenSys zkEVM to Linea, and the project plans to launch its mainnet in Q2 2023.
Investors and Partners
ConsenSys has raised $727.7 million from various funding rounds. Most recently, ConsenSys completed a Series D funding round, raising a total of $450 million, bringing the company’s valuation to $7 billion.
Linea has 28 partners, including Uniswap, Celer, LayerZero, The Graph Protocol, and more.